| Show written for this paper WITH THE in response to an inquiry regarding hla his recent mission in the be indian terri tory to and the histo history and condition of the native tribe with which he hew was as best beat acquainted elder frank B woodbury made the following report on the morning of the of october 1891 1 I boarded the B R G W train at salt bait lake city and was soon speeding on my way to the indian territory whither I 1 had bad been called to bear the message of lite life and salvation to a portion ot of the house of israel As I 1 crossed the prairies of eastern colorado and kansas I 1 longed to see a mountain or even a hill this being my first view of such a vast amount of territory without a mountain to obstruct it in any direction after visiting pueblo and kansas city the journey was cont continued continua inui edo and on the morning of october 19 ih I 1 arrived at fort gibson indian territory r this fort was used during the war by r the confederates as a military post and was for some time the home ot of jefferson davis president of the confederacy whose residence is still standing though it has been considered unsafe as a dwelling for some time prom from fort gibson we took stage for manard a distance of nine miles where resides the hon wm H hendricks with whom the elders always find bud a home when the elders first went there having been turned away from many doors through prejudice pre u mr hendricks Hendriok and sand his noble wife took them in and made them welcome an attempt was made by the elders in 1891 92 to obtain a tract of land on which to erect a building for church and school purposes but they failed in this and mr hendricks Hendri furnished some land and a house was built thereon this is in the only meeting house bouse owned by the saints in the territory there they can hold bold meetings when they choe choise so many of the other churches and schoolhouses are closed against them on ti e way from fore gibson to manard the national cemetery is pawed passed it is enclosed by a rook rock wall d about five feet high inside stands a nice stone cottage where t the superintendent mr J et R dixon resi resides deiL the cemetery contains a fraction over live five sores acres of land in which are interred inter rod the remains of 2449 soldiers eol diers 2128 of whom are unknown the graveled walks are lined with a variety of shade trees aid sowers flowers among other trees are the box older elder cottonwood poplar pta afa silver maple and wild locust all natives of the terr territory tury though not as common as the oak of which there are about five or six varieties the hickory the pecan etc the indian territory lies west of arkansas and between kansas and texas was a portion of the louisiana purchase and was waa set apart for the of peaceful indian tribes there is no territorial government each tribe or nation having the management of its own affairs aft alre oklahoma is a tract of land which was ceded to the united states by the creeks and seminoles Semio Semi oles noles in 1866 to be used as homes for such other civilized indians indiana as the united states may choose to settle thereon Lb ereon 1 I in 1889 this tract was thrown open for settlement by the whites and was the signal for a rush of settlers sett leis such asibal never been previously known other tracts have been since thrown open to settlers and added to oklahoma until now it Js is large enough and has a population entitling it to statehood it was situated in the northern portion of the territory the five civilized tribes cherokee choctaw Cho otaw chickasaw Chio kasaw creek and semi nole occupy the eastern and southern portions of the territory while the semi civilized tribes chey entice enne Arapah oes Coma nobes apaches apache pawnees Paw nees aud other smaller tribes occupy the west and north these theme tribes have been taken from their former locations and placed here by the united states government the first account we have of the cherokees Is that in the year 1620 they were located in virginia from which place they were afterwards driven by the virginians and forced to retreat to the moisten river the early abero kees claimed blood relationship relationship with the and their claim to Is well grounded Judg judging irig from the great similarity in their customs and characteristics te the residence of the cherokees on the holston holsten river was ot short abort duration for they were attacked by the tribes from the north and driven to the little tennessee where they again settled down and established themselves permanently the cherokees are supposed to have been the original inhabitants of the southeastern states as the other tribes appear to have emigrated from the wot west at no very early period it to Is claimed by some scientists that those these people are the direct descendants of the mound builders and as aa one proof of this they point to the fact that these mou mounds ode are more numerous in that portion of country once inhabited by the cherokees than in any other part about the year 1700 their nation consisted of sixty four tow wo those living in the upper towns situated on the tellico bellico and the tennessee rivers were continually at war with the northern indians indiana while those of the lower towns on the oconee and savannah rivers were harassed by the creeks nor did their trouble end with their red brethren for they were also at war with the french and english at different periods prom from these causes and the terrible scourge of 0 smallpox the cherokee were in 1740 reduced from seven thousand to five thousand war giors at this time they had not been brought into contact with the whites to any great exten tand were still in their wild uncivilized state their warriors were in the habit of having their heads shaved caved leaving only a small bunch on the back part which was ornamented with plumes while their ears were slit alit and adorned with long pendants pennants pend ants and rings they are a very fine looking people and indeed they are said to have been the most proud of any of the indian tribes this trait was espe especially olal exhibited in their early intercourse with the europeans the warriors refusing to associate with any but the generals and superior officers of the english and french armies the first treaty made by the cherokees was with the british government and was consummated at dover june go 80 1721 six kobiela appearing before george ther the third hird and their fealty to his majesty U in 1761 henry timberlake a lieutenant in the british service in order to cultivate friendly relations with the cherokees visited the towns on the tellico bellico and tenn tennessee apse rivers and persuaded three powerful to accompany him to england they were presented to george the third being introduced at court by colonel beamer here they exhibited a dignity and beariD gin keeping with their rans and influence as representatives of a great nation during the way war of the revolution the cherokees remained faithful and were powerful allies of the british until after the war closed when they ceased hostilities and agreed to ft a tm treaty I 1 with the united states gove government their first treaty with the united states was entered into at hopewell south carolina november 18 1786 1785 and was waa the commencement of a series nories of ruinous contracts whereby the cherokees were coerced or forced by circumstances into relinquishing their rights to the lend land east of the missie many plans plane and devices were adopted to deprive them of their inheritance and they suffered inhuman treatment at the hands of the be col colonists but rarely sought revenge tor for these outrages until in 1792 being driven almost to desperation a doily 01 warriors under john watts attacked buchannan station near nashville tenn and probably would have reduced it to ches af hes had not their lerider leader fallen beneath his wounds early in the attack later on cavitte station hear bear knoxville tenn was captured and burned by a force of 1500 braves peace was not fully restored to the border until the summer ot of 1794 when major ore destroyed two large cherokee towns running water ard and Nic nickajack kajack in the year 1809 the upper and lower cherokees began to develop a difference in tastes and methods of living the former were making considerable sid erable progress in agriculture while the latter who chiefly subsisted on the proceeds of the chase were becoming beci ming discontented with the growing scarcity of game and as a consequence a party of the latter started for the white river fiver country in Arkansas with a view to finding a better hunting ground in this they were successful and in eight years from the date of their first ett kment there were three thousand members of the tribe located on the white river and its tributaries tributa ries then followed lol loped the treaty of 1817 whereby the united states government presented each poor exile indian with a rifle trap and blanket in lieu of his hie home claim and transported him west of the great river to join his comrades and light fight the usages and who were incessantly raiding upon the now new camera the government had bad promised tham protection protea tion irom from the hosti hostiles ho stiles leel but refused to interfere until the rt remainder of the cherokees Cherok eed availed themselves of the late treaty and abandoned their homes home at the same name time the state officials of georgia commenced persecuting those who remained in their old homes and creasing pr easing the united states government to hasten their removal from the state an A n airree agreement ment had been entered into in april apai 1 1802 whereby georgia ceded to the united states certain lands lying south of the tennessee and west of the pe rivers riven etc in consideration of the indian title to lands in georgia to be extinguished on pez peaceable ceable and reasonable terms As an the years went by without the fulfillment of the latter part of the contract the citizens of georgia grew more and more of offensive and boveri bove ra or troupe went so far as to threaten the sect tory tary of war with impending blood bed it if immediate action was not taken at this time there were a lew few white men among the indians I 1 laboring a bor for their welfare and they were arrested but those who would promise not to return to the indian country were immediately released rei essed dr worcester and butlar refused to make this promise and they were thrown into prison the united states supreme coart ordered them to be liberated but the state of georgia at first refused at d it was wag not done for over a yea j ear afterwards in the meantime the final treaty was drafted and concluded in december 1835 this treaty was a clear release of all lands owned by the cherokees Cheroke ei eig east of the mississippi for the sum of john ross boss the principal chief who had bad been at washington for three or four winters in the be interests of his people was opposed ed to the treaty and opened a correspondence with the president in the hope of relief but obtained none on the other hand andrew ross boas a member of the cherokee Cne delegations delegation who was in favor of the emigration entered into an agreement with the commissioner ot of indian affairs to bring together a sufficient number of leading cherokees with whom a treaty could be bet fleeten fleeted eted AL A preliminary treaty was therefore concluded on the day of june 1834 but it was never ratified as the cherokees were divided some being in favor of emigration while others were opposed to it on the day oi 01 march a treaty providing for removal was drawn up with the delegates with the express stipulation that it should receive the approval of the cherokee people in full council assembled in october following the Chero cherokee liec people in full council rejected the treaty but notwithstanding this it was wag ratified by the united states senate may 23 1836 and the cherokees were compelled tv to leave their homes and seek new ones in the western wilds the history of the removal of the cherokees from their eastern homes is a very sad bad story between sixteen and seventeen thousand men women and children left brainard late in the fall with a winters journey of about half a year before them the severity of the weather together with the number of old and infirm emigrants ren rendered derea them unable to travel more than from five to fifteen miles a day As the season advanced they were attacked by disease with dreadful fatality A large number lay jay down by the roadside to die and the great caravan soon became a veritable funeral procession the average number of deaths reaching thirteen per day at the end of the journey the roll was called and over four thousand persons persona were missing one fourth of the company having died by the wayside the survivors were so 80 enraged at those who had been instrumental in bringing this calamity upon them that shortly after their arrival at their destination three of the leaders of the treaty party were brutally murdered the old settlers these of the lower towns who came west of their own accord refused to acknowledge john boss boise as their chief aud and considerable trouble ensued many murders resulting at length concluding they could not live in pence peace with the rose party the old settlers sent a delegation into the texas country to explore fur for a new home but it went no farther at that time heretofore the cherokees were under the government of their chiefs but now it was decided to make w a change in this matter and a 11 constitution based on the constitution of the united states was adopted on the day of july 1838 under this the supreme executive power of the nation to ie vested in the principal chief or governor who Is elected by the popular vote for a term of four years in case cage of death or removal irom from office his hie position is 18 filled by an assistant principal chief the former rece receives ivell a salary of 2000 and the latter 1000 per peg anoum an executive council or of cabinet compassed compo comp seed ossed of from three to five persons persona la 18 appoint td d by the national council to be at the disposal of the chief when their services ts a are re among other important I 1 officers are the treasurer solicitor general and auditor the doimer two receiving 1000 and the latter per annum the judicial powers of the nation are vested in supreme circuit and dig die brict triot courts the former is cou conducted ducted by three abree judged one of whom is appointed by the council every two years these receive a salary of per year and hold their commission for six years the nation natio is divided into three judicial circuits each of which has baa a judge elected by the people with a salary of a year it is also divided into nine districts viz canadian illinois sequoyah flitt delaware goingsnake going snakes snake table quah saline and coo wee wed coo wee JIM in each of which is a district court the judge being elected for a term of two tac years at a salary of per year each bach district sends to the national council two senators and from three to seven representatives representative nj in proportion to population the national capital is located at tallequah tahlequah Tahle quah where the council meets annually the first monday in november ands and continues from four to six weeks the legislative bouy booy Is ia divided into two branches the senate and council and the members are elected for a term of two Y years cars are 5 per day being paid them during attendance the majority of the members are cherokees Chero keea by blood though h there are a few exceptions they are mostly men oi of intelligence their laws are very good and are more strictly atri otly enforced wan than those of other tribes tribe at the breaking out of the war of the rebellion |
